Wednesday, 6 April 2016

The Panama Papers

That’s the catchily alliterative name that has been given to
the huge collection of documents (not as a rule in fact in paper form) leaked
from a law company in Panama; a company whose registered office is in fact in
one of those ex British colonies that have long experience of devious financial
dealings.

The papers reveal corruption, money-laundering, the usual
trappings of grotesque greed, in ‘high places’. There have been cries of outrage,
demonstrations in the streets, calls for enquiries, and resignations of ‘important’
people in all the countries affected.

All but one. In the U.K., which the documents show to be one
of the most unscrupulous of all states, there have been nothing but shrugs of
indifference. Why? Well, as with so many of the nastier aspects of Britain, it
is the legacy of Thatcher and her toadies. Thatcher — and let us not forget
that Britain is a fairly democratic country, so Thatcher was in power because
the British people wanted her in power — had no real sense of right and wrong.
If something was profitable, it was right; the notion that something could be
profitable but wrong would have seemed to her a simple logical contradiction;
the words ‘Right’ and ‘Profitable’ were virtually synonyms. The only values
were monetary ones.

Lots of people have been saying ‘I’ve done nothing wrong’.
No, of course they haven’t. “What do you mean, ‘Wrong’? I made a big profit!”